I’m waiting to read: show bow!
They still make them…
Ha! Funny you say that - I actually still have a very nice bow that I wish I could wear in h/j without looking ridiculous. It’s from my days showing AQHA, where the trend was (and might still be) to put the hair in a low bun, and put the bun in a bedazzled hairnet that usually came with a bow affixed to the top. Of course, these bows don’t have the “tails” like you see in the lead line or short stirrup classes so they’re not very “cutesy” 
Oh well - maybe in 20 years the trend will come back around and reach its way into hunters
Truly ludicrous that we dress up in 18th century men’s formal wear to showcase our big sweaty beasts.
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I mean… pony kids have made show bows a completely successful business. I’d be on board with a neatly tied pony tail, braid, or low bun with a navy or black velvet ribbon (not red, unless you’re a kicker!). If anyone asks… say you’re channeling your favorite “Founding Father” for your look.
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Your average working cowboy isn’t wearing athletic wear. And all the elements of dress in real foxhunting have practical roots.
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Covering your ears with your hair as we do in hunters prevents sunburn.
After showing breed shows as a child and switching to hunters as an adult it’s been a huge relief on those days when I’ve accidentally forgotten to put sunscreen on my ears. Had I done this as a teen and young adult I’d have spared my ears some pain and damage.
Yesterday I went for a drive with the top down and I realized I forgot my ears so I did a long ponytail under my ball cap and voilá - no burned ears! I think the hunter folks are rather smart for figuring this out.
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Statement of fact. Brianne Goutal won a couple of hunter classes today at Lake Placid with her hair down.
Of course, it probably helps if you ride that well. Lol.
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Good for her! I’d like to see this become more of the trend!
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I had to read this a few times, because I was certain you’d written “big sweaty breasts”!!
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I’ve always tied my hair in a low ponytail and then flipped the rest up and stuff it all in my helmet somehow. The ponytail holder is low enough that it sits below the harness line on my helmet; I could not stand a braid under a helmet or a bun getting sweaty on my neck.
I do ride at home with the low ponytail hanging out, but I have a lot of thick, exceptionally long hair so I feel it would be distracting flying around a course… or blowing in my face if the wind kicks up wrong. 
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Update. Brianne Goutal was champion in at least one hunter division today at Lake Placid. For the second week in a row, I believe.
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I hate my ears sticking out. Love hunter hair, but alas I have fairly short hair now and unless I wore a wig … hunter hair ain’t happening.
I have very long hair and at this point cannot safely put it up under my hat. I do the jumpers but once an HP, always an HP, so I wear a hairnet every time I ride. I’ve tried a ponytail and I’ve tried a braid, but I cannot stand my hair flopping around.
What I usually do is twist it into a bun, secure with hairband (Note: NOT with a hair band, like Poison, they wouldn’t fit), and put the RWR hairnet on over the whole mess. When I’m only flatting I don’t bother with contacts, so the hairnet also helps keep my glasses in place. The bun itself has been getting bigger as my COVID hair has grown longer, but it looks and feels fine. I don’t care about having hair over my ears because I think it looks like a sad Princess Leia 'do but one could certainly do that.
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So I do not put my hair up, nor do i let any of my students size a new helmet with hair up or let them ride with it up. If the student comes with a helmet that was measured with hair up, it has to be worn that way in shows or in practice, but they do know that the next one they purchase (if still riding with me) will be sized with hair out.
Here’s how i get my hair show ready. With my hair lose, i will put on a one knot hair net with the knot at my forehead, then put on the helmet, (with hair hanging long and loose down my back). The back of the hair net gets pulled up over the top of the hair net to be out of the way for now. I will then braid my hair, then twist it into a bun and secure. I will then pull the hair net down, covering the bun and twist any extra netting around the bun and secure that.
Doing my hair with the helmet on it causes the bun to be outside the helmet harness and ensures that the helmet will always fit correctly. Everything is tightly rolled into the hairnet so there are no flyaways and everything is neat and tidy.
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I put my hair in a low donut bun, wrap a net around it, and secure that. Yes, in dressage people do wear a sparkly hair net. Sans bow.
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why the knot at forehead? It kinda creates a pressure point for me 
I’ve never had an issue with it, maybe I just have a dent in my head from doing it for so many years haha!
I’ve also used this technique with a no knot tube hair net and it has worked. So I’m sure it would work with any type of hair net or the knot at the back.
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My hair is shortish, flippy bob. Too short for for any ponytail. I don’t like that my ears stick out, but it makes helmet fitting pretty easy with no options.
I have fairly long curly hair and have a hard time putting it under my helmet without it sitting funny. I put it into as tight of a bun as possible at the base of my neck and put a hair net over it (please no show bows).
I figure I’m a 42 year old adult riding a large pony (our combined driving pony that’s been jumping for less than a year) against all sorts of warmbloods and big horses, why not rock the bun as well since I already stand out!
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